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A quick rundown of Ohio child protection news this week
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Weekly Update for February 4, 2019
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Association Updates
PCSAO’s legislative priorities included in AOF news conference
The health and human services budget coalition, Advocates for Ohio’s Future, hosted a news conference Jan. 28 to unveil its budget requests, which focused primarily on children and families. As a longtime member, PCSAO included our request for State Child Protection Allocation investment and the Children’s Continuum of Care Reform. Learn more on the
Advocates for Ohio's Future website
.
SE District meets
The PCSAO SE District met on Jan. 28 and received updates from PCSAO on the Governor's recent appointments and Executive Orders, budget priorities, the Children's Continuum of Care Reform efforts, Family First Prevention Services Act planning, and the kinship child care program. The district discussed the need for a Wendy's Wonderful Kids recruiter with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Northwoods and ODJFS provided updates at the meeting on EDMS, TAS staffing, child fatality administrative reviews, and CPOE 12. The SE District will meet next on Apr. 22.
Anti-human trafficking update
On Jan. 30, PCSAO and grant partners were able to provide an all-day human trafficking training to over 60 children services, juvenile justice, and allied professionals at the Haines Children’s Center in Montgomery County. And on Jan. 31, PCSAO and grant partners were able to provide an all-day human trafficking training to approximately 25 staff at Lighthouse Youth Services in Hamilton County. For agencies interested in receiving this training, please reach out to PCSAO Anti-Human Trafficking Coordinator Bhumika Patel at
[email protected]
.
The National Network for Youth released a
white paper
, “Responding to Youth Homelessness: A Key Strategy to Preventing Human Trafficking,” with policy recommendations on addressing the intersection of youth homelessness and human trafficking.
Community Education Committee prepares for Child Abuse Prevention Month
Ohio Children's Trust Fund Executive Director Lindsay Williams joined the CEC conference call Feb. 1 to describe the
Trust Fund's plans for April, Child Abuse Prevention Month
. She offered a tour of a newly designed
website,
sharing information about downloadable images and messaging, PSA video clips and more. The committee continues to plan for Wear Blue Day April 10 (
learn more
) and has established a schedule for training that includes topics such as crisis communications, video production and the annual levy "boot camp." Contact
Scott Britton
for information.
2019 Fostering Pathways to Success Conference
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Ohio Reach and JOURNEY to Successful Living are partnering this year to bring you another dynamic Fostering Pathways to Success Conference. The conference will be April 3 at the Columbus Convention Center, 400 N. High Street, Columbus. The keynote presenter will be LaToya Logan, a former foster youth and founder of Project LIFT Behavioral Health Services, a nonprofit organization that targets the needs of transition-aged males who are court involved and provides them with supportive services to assist them with community re-entry, educational, employment and housing successes.
We are excited to introduce foster youth and young adults to a unique and interactive experience in the afternoon:
Independence City
will offer foster youth and young adults (ages 14 -21) with a fun yet challenging life simulation that will give participants a glimpse into real-life scenarios. This conference is a statewide event for youth in foster care ages 14-18 and young adults formerly in foster care ages 19-21. We also encourage Independent Living coordinators, ongoing case managers, agency administrators, workforce professionals and others working with foster youth to attend. We offer an array of workshops geared toward youth self-sufficiency and independence as they prepare to leave the foster care system. Caseworkers and adult supporters can earn continuing professional education credits while attending instructional and helpful learning sessions.
Rules update
- Chapter 5101:2-25 Title XX Social Services Program Administration. These rules are being updated to reflect the automation of the Title XX County Profile form. Open for comments until Feb. 15.
- 5101:2-42-87 “Termination of Substitute Care and Custody of a Child.” This rule is being updated to increase the maximum length of a trial home visit to ninety consecutive days. Open for comments until Feb. 15.
- Chapter 5101:2-50 Bridges rules. These rules are being reviewed for policy clarification. Open for comments until March 2.
- Chapter 5101:2-51 Adoption Assistance Connections rules. These rules are being reviewed for policy clarification. Open for comments until March 2.
As of Feb. 1, no children services-related rules are in clearance.
The following rules were original-filed on Jan. 25 and are scheduled for a public hearing on Feb. 28:
- 5101:2-1-01: Children services definitions of terms
- 5101:2-40-02: Supportive services for prevention of placement, reunification and life skills
- 5101:2-47-11: Reimbursement for foster care maintenance costs for children's residential centers, group homes, maternity homes, residential parenting facilities, and purchased foster care homes
- 5101:2-47-12: Foster care maintenance: Initial determination of program eligibility and reimbursability
- 5101:2-47-16: Foster care maintenance program reimbursability: Reimbursable placement settings
- 5101:2-47-23: Beginning date of reimbursability for foster care maintenance
- 5101:2-47-24: Title IV-E agency contract and contract monitoring requirements for placement of children with a parent in a substance use disorder (SUD) residential facility
- 5101:2-47-26: Title IV-E agencies, private child placing agencies (PCPA), private noncustodial agencies (PNA): penalties for failure to comply with fiscal accountability procedures
- 5101:2-47-26.1: Public children services agencies (PCSA), private child placing agencies (PCPA), private noncustodial agencies (PNA): Title IV-E cost report filing requirements, record retention requirements and related party disclosure requirements
- 5101:2-47-26.2: Cost report "Agreed Upon Procedures" engagement
The following rules were original-filed on Jan. 31 and are scheduled for a public hearing on March 5:
- 5101:2-47-01: Administration of the Title IV-E foster care maintenance program (FCM)
- 5101:2-47-17: Foster care maintenance program reimbursability: Reimbursements for FCM and child care for public foster homes, relative homes, and pre-finalized adoptive homes
- 5101:2-47-18: Foster care maintenance program reimbursability: Reimbursements related to the difficulty of care needs of a child placed in a foster home, relative home, or pre-finalized adoptive home
- 5101:2-47-19: Foster care maintenance program reimbursability: payments, reimbursements, graduation expenses and personal incidentals
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Announcements and Resources
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14
th
Annual Wells Conference on Child Welfare & Adoption Law
The Family and Youth Law Center at Capital University Law School is hosting its annual Wells Conference March 7. The topic of this year's conference is “Substance Abuse, Medical Marijuana, and Child Welfare." The conference will look at the dual realities of Ohio’s opiate crisis combined with the increasing availability of medical marijuana, which brings new challenges to anyone charged with advancing the best interests of children. This is a daylong opportunity for professionals to network and to learn about important, current topics concerning Child Welfare. Registration is $60, and includes lunch. Six CLEs and six CEUs for Social Workers and Counselors are pending approval. You can learn
more information and register here.
The NCJFCJ call for applications
The
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
(NCJFCJ) would like
to invite applicants from state and tribal dependency court(s) to apply to participate in the Implementation Site Project. NCJFCJ will select six sites to participate in the implementation project, and those sites will r
eceive individualized assessments, training, and technical assistance as they seek to implement the principles and recommendations set forth in the
Enhanced Resource Guidelines
and work toward improving practices and outcomes. S
ites will be expected to be “laboratories for change” as they will be participating in an ongoing assessment of their performance and they will be expected to share their results with the NCJFCJ and other sites in order to inform and sustain a larger system improvement effort.
For more information regarding the projects and eligibility criteria, applicants should view the
application packet
. The deadline to apply is
March 1
by 5 p.m. and applicants will be selected and notified by March 8.
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Child Protection in the News
Randy Muth, Mahoning County Children Services executive director, said Thursday the state had been “shedding” foster families for more than a decade before the drug crisis took root and led to a surge in child removal cases.
Drug overdose deaths have declined in many parts of the state, but Gov. Mike DeWine cautions that an addiction crisis persists in Ohio.
Ten nominees received approval from a County Council committee on Tuesday to serve on an advisory board to the county's Division of Children and Family Services.
The Williams County Children Services unit experienced a huge increase in abuse/neglect cases primarily due to parents using illegal drugs.
Melissa Rodgers knows what it means to be in the revolving door of the criminal justice system.
In Montgomery County, there were an estimated 5,575 grandparents raising grandchildren in 2016, according to U.S. Census Bureau data cited by the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.
In many ways, the overdose crisis is magnifying deeper issues for non-users as well. In Newark, as elsewhere, there's a growing sense that the pressures of being a first responder are causing mental stress and post-traumatic syndrome. And the county social services is struggling to keep up.
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Feb. 6 | Board of Trustees Meeting
Feb. 7 | Rules Review Committee Meeting
Feb. 8 | Conference Planning Committee Meeting
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"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
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Public Children Services Association of Ohio | 614-224-5802 |
www.pcsao.org
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